There was an article in the Joplin, MO newspaper a few months back stating the rise in cattle rustling. They catch them once in a while. Not many ranchers are running around county roads at 2am pulling a stock trailer.
One time back in the '70s I was running a rig up a lonely little state highway in central Missouri about 2:00 AM. I found men on horses herding cattle across the highway and down a side road where a cattle rack was parked.
Now this was at a point in my life when I was highly aware that I was naive about many things, so I really didn't know what to think of that. I made note of the crossroad name and put the pedal down until I got to the next town and a pay-phone.
I called the Sheriff's office and made what must have been a peculiar report. "I really don't know your area or your ways, but I lived on a cattle ranch in Illinois and I never saw any farmer awake at 2:00 AM let alone herding cattle across a highway." "Does that seem peculiar to you?"
The deputy's reply was to the effect that: Darn tooting he thought it was peculiar!
